Morgan Gets A Girl
by babygirlmorgan
Summary: Morgan, the ladies man, is surprised to instantly get a family due to a tragedy. He's learning to raise a girl with help from his friends, especially Prentiss. WARNING: some spanking of child.
1. Chapter 1

Morgan Gets a Girl!

Chapter 1 - part 1

SSA Morgan, the single ladies man of the BAU, arrived at his desk to find a message to contact social services in Chicago. Absolutely baffled as to what this could possibly be about he called the number. He was notified that a second cousin of his had been found dead. What awful news.

This cousin was one of his closest when he was growing up, but when he went to college this cousin got mixed up in some street stuff that unfortunately caused him to stray away from his family. It always bothered Derek that he could not pull this cousin out of that mess. In any case, he did not know that the cousin had a 10 year old daughter that he was trying to raise while still battling his demons. Social services found that his cousin had purchased a life insurance policy when the baby was born and listed Derek as the beneficiary. Who knew? They needed someone to take the child. Honored, saddened, and frightened all at the same time, Derek went to Chicago to figure out the situation. Before he left, however, he told the unit that he didn't know the details and how this would work out, but he would be in touch. They collectively gave him their support and he was off.

When he arrived in Chicago, he met his cousin's child. Boy, she looked like a chip off the old block. Her name was Tiffany and she was a pretty little girl. She had a little bit of attitude though and Derek wasn't quite sure what to make of it. He figured that because she had been temporarily in the system with a foster family and she was grieving her father's death, he would let this slide. He would have to see how that plays out.

The case worker talked with him to try to catch him up on her history. Her mother is not in the picture and her mother's family cannot be located. Tiffany does not even remember her mother. She moved from one small apartment to another with her dad because he would get evicted, therefore she changed schools quite frequently. She doesn't really have any friends as a result. She has been essentially raising her self and taking care of her dad. Her dad died of a drug overdose and was found after she called and said he had not been home for 2 days.

Derek was a little overwhelmed by the child's circumstances but he felt compelled to take care of his cousin's child. It seemed like the right thing to do. He knew he was going to do this and THIS was huge. He would figure out to make this work eventually. He knew that he could offer her a much better home life than she had. He couldn't stand to think that this little girl's child hood was being stolen from her. He decided to take her out to lunch to get to know her and to get a feel for what she understands of the situation.

At the café, Derek asks Tiffany, "So Tiffany, how are you feeling?"

"I feel pretty bad. Duh?? I mean my daddy died and now everybody wants to know how I feel."

"Ok, that might have been a bad question, but I really do want to know how you're doing. I know I just met you, but your dad and I were really close at one time. I loved him like a brother but…" She cut him off.

"So where have you been? I never heard him talk about you."

"Well sometimes people grow apart and that's kind of what happened with us. Your dad knew that I would be there for him if he needed me, but I never knew how to contact him." He didn't want to tell her that her dad was cracked out and resisted any and all help that anybody tried to offer him. If she didn't know what exactly caused her dad's death, he certainly didn't want to tell her now and possibly ruin her image of her dad. "That is really lame," she said very snidely. "I know but it's the truth," he replied. Derek tried to laugh this off, but Tiffany's attitude was really becoming irritating. It just wasn't necessary. He decided to change the subject. "The menu looks good. See anything you like, baby girl?" Without looking up from the menu, she replied, "I'm not a baby and I'm not your girl." Whoa! At this point, Derek was both annoyed and a bit upset. He doesn't really like attitude like that coming from adults let alone a 10 year old girl. She needed to be reminded that despite how her life has been, she is in fact a 10 year old girl. "Tiffany," he said sternly, " you can drop the attitude." She smacked her lips, folded her arms across her chest, and settled into her seat. "I'd like for you to do it now." She unfolded her arms and shifted in her seat. "I am trying to get to know you because, like it or not, I am going to take care of you from here on out. I am very sorry that your dad and my cousin died, really sorry. I'm sorry that I was not in your life and your dad's life earlier. I'm also sorry that you had to grow up so fast. I'm sorry if I have offended you with my term of endearment. But I am here now to take care of you and to make sure that you are safe. So now, Tiffany, now that we got that out of the way, what looks good to you?"

At that point, she just burst out in tears. Derek came around and sat beside her in the booth. He put his arm around her shoulders and tried to pull her to him. At first she resisted, but he continued to gently pull her to him, and after a few seconds, she finally relented. She fell into his chest and cried. He cooed to her, "that's right, get it out, baby girl (he couldn't help himself)." She sobbed for about 10 minutes never saying anything. Derek just continued to hold her and rock her. When her crying slowed and she wiped her face, he asked her, "are you ready for some lunch?" "Yeah, I think so Uncle Derek. Can I call you Uncle Derek?" He smiled at her and said, " of course you can call me Uncle Derek. Can I call you baby girl?" "I guess so if you don't call me that too much. I'm not a…" " I know, a little girl", he teased.

During lunch, they each talked about their lives. Derek told her about his life in the BAU and how close they all were in the unit. He also told her about the fact that he traveled for work periodically but not to worry because until he had her settled in, he would be home with her. She told him about how she kept changing schools and her lack of friends. She talked about how wished she knew her mom and how she wanted a mom. " Uncle Derek, are you married?" He chuckled. "Hmm, no not yet. No kids, either. You will be my first." She looked a little sad. He reassured her, " I know some women who would be happy to help you with mom things." She looked a little more comforted. He told her everything would be just fine.

She went to her school to say her good byes. They packed up her things that she wanted to take with her to DC. They settled up her father's affairs and had a private memorial. They headed out to DC.

When they got to Derek's place, there was a surprise waiting for her. Her bedroom had already been done up in her favorite colors – pink, navy blue, and white. It was her dream room. She even had a computer and all kinds of girl books on the book shelf. She had a book bag and a closet full of clothes. Really cool clothes. She looked at it and just cried tears of joy. She had never had a bedroom like this before. "Uncle Derek, I love it. How did you do this?" She looked at the clothes in the closet and they were her size. She was amazed. "How did you do this, Uncle Derek?" "Remember those women that I told you about? They are my friends from work, Emily, Penelope, and JJ. I called them and told them about you and they wanted to do this for you. They want you to start off here with your own bed to sleep in. This is yours. You can change it how you like. Just keep it clean, ok?" She hugged him so tight and he loved it. He had already fallen for her and knew she was a sweet girl who just acted tough because she had to. He was going to protect her and give her the childhood that she deserved and was her right.

"Ok," he said, "let me show you around the place so you will know where everything is. This is your home too now, so you don't need to ask for anything here. It's yours too now. " He showed her how to work the electronics and showed her around. He gave her the address and phone number and told her to memorize it. He told her it was time for bed. She protested, " but it's only 9:30." "I know and it's time for bed," he told her. "Wow, this is going to suck!" she said. "Suck or not, time for bed, you. You remember where the towels and things are and there are pj's and stuff in your room. Now go ahead and shower and get to bed." "Are you serious? This is ridiculous," she said. Derek turned serious and said, " We need to get a couple of things straightened out. First, you need to do what you are told to do. There will be rules and you will need to follow them. Some things are not up for discussion, most things aren't. Your bed time is not negotiable. It is not too early and that is what's normal for a child your age and actually earlier would be ideal. We can talk about all this tomorrow, but for now, I need you to go do what I've asked you to do. I will be up to tuck you in a little later." "Tuck me in? Wow, I'm not a little kid." " I know you're not a little kid, but I'm coming anyway. No stop stalling and go get ready for bed." She stomped off up the stairs mumbling something about not being a little kid, how unbelievable it was to have a bed time, and how much now she thinks it's going to suck here. Derek just laughed and thought to himself how much of a challenge he was going to have on his hands. When he went upstairs about a half hour later to check on Tiffany, she was in the bed, sleep – snoring. He kissed her on her forehead and said "sleep tight, baby girl."

part 2

The next morning, Derek let her sleep in. He started breakfast for her. He fixed her pancakes and sausage. He went to wake her. "Hey sleepy head, rise and shine." She turned over groggily and said "Now?" " Uh huh, now. Go wash your face and come down for breakfast." She grunted but got moving. She came downstairs. She said, "Wow, this smells good." He said, "Tastes good, too." As they were eating he told her they had a lot to do today. They had to interview some nannies that the girls from the BAU had prescreened for him. She was a little disappointed that he was a getting a nanny but he explained again about the traveling and how she would need consistency. She wondered aloud why he just didn't get married. All he could do was laugh at that. They also had to go find thank you gifts for the girls for the great bed room. Finally, they had to get things together for a little party that night. Everybody wanted to meet Tiffany. She never had a party before and was actually getting excited. "Will there be any kids here?" she asked. "None your age. JJ will bring her baby and Hoch will bring Jack who is a little man." That brought her down just a little bit, but he reminded her that she would start school on Monday and would make lots of friends her age.

The interview of the nannies went well and he settled on a lovely woman named Ms. Claire. She was a youngish grandmother in her late 50's who retired from the school system but loved working with kids. Derek thought she would be perfect for Tiffany and for him. Her job would consist mainly of after school care and overnight stays when he had to go out of town. They would do a trial run this week while he still had time off. He was excited because she could help Tiffany with her homework. She also said she would be willing to fix dinner for them and fix lunches. She even offered mornings, but he said he could handle that unless he was away of course. As much as Tiffany thought she didn't need a nanny, she liked the idea of Ms. Claire and was drawn to her. She thought she was warm and welcoming. There was something about her that made her trust her almost instantly. This part was going to be alright. She still didn't like the idea of a bed time. She hoped that maybe Ms. Claire would give her a break on that. She was sure she would get an opportunity soon.

They went to the mall to pick up gifts for the BAU ladies. But she didn't know what to get especially since she didn't know them. Derek suggested that they check out a gift shop that had cards and gifts. She got cards and decided to get them really pretty small frames that she could put pictures of them with her in. She figured she could take a picture with them when they came over and print it and put in the frames before they left. Derek loved the idea and they were satisfied. They had to make one more stop before they left the mall. He decided that he wanted to get her a cell phone so that she could get in touch with him whenever she needed. She was so excited because she always wanted a phone but never had one. "Uncle Derek, are you serious?!?!," she asked excitedly. "Of course I am. I need you to feel like you can get in touch with me at any time. Send a text message or something. You need to know that I'm never too busy for you. You are the most important person to me. I love you, you're my baby girl now, and you are my priority." She was about to burst inside because she knew he meant it.

Everybody came over for the party and they had a great time. She got to meet the "BAU girls" that fixed her room for her. She expressed how grateful she was and how much she loved it. She gave them the thank you cards and asked if she could get a picture with them. They eagerly agreed to do it. Derek took the picture for her. She disappeared to print the picture with his help and fixed the frames. When she gave the frames to them, they loved it. She made one for herself to put in her room. She told them they were her first friends in DC. She played with JJ's baby and with Jack. The adults had a good time. Hoch and Jack left first because he needed to get to bed. JJ and her baby left next, but the baby was fast asleep. It was 9:00 and Derek asked Tiffany, "Tiff do you know what time it is?" She thought to herself that he was ruining a good time. She didn't want to miss any of the fun. She loved the BAU team. She thought Reid was hilarious because he seemed so nervous and he knew so much stuff. She thought Penelope was strange but she was very nice. Rossi was just a nice man. But her favorite was Prentiss. She didn't know why, but she was. She didn't want to leave. "Tiff? Time?" "Ugh. Bedtime. But it's a half hour early. And on Saturday?" Derek just shook his head and just thought this girl was going to be a handful. He replied, "if you start now, you will be done by 9:30 which is your bedtime. Everyday." Fine, she thought. "Ok everybody, it was good to meet all of you. Good night." Everybody bid her good night.

She showered and by the time she got out, everybody was gone already. Derek came up to bid here good night and kissed her forehead. She loved it and felt very loved, but then she started to cry. "What's wrong," Derek asked. "I miss my dad. I have so much now and he didn't have anything." His heart broke for her. "Your dad did the best he could given his circumstances. He gave you the best he could which was his love. The fact that you miss him, means that he did something right. It's okay for you to miss him and even to cry. But don't feel bad about being more comfortable. Okay?" "Okay." She tried to dry her tears but they kept coming. "Do you want me to stay with you?" "Yes." He laid on the bed with her and stroked her hair and wiped her tears until she fell asleep. He cleaned up downstairs and when he finally got to bed, he shed tears for his cousin too and vowed to take of his princess.

part 3

Sunday was a wonderful day. They watched movies, bought some school supplies including a new pink backpack. She got herself psyched up to go to yet another school. But if all went well she would be in this one until she was ready for high school. Also Ms. Claire was going to start working with them. She just looked like she could give good hugs. She needed that.

Monday they went to register at the academy not too far from the house. She was given the orientation and uniform. This school was somewhat exclusive but not too haughty. She was introduced to her class. She told them that she was from Chicago and that she was living with her uncle after her father's death. Lots of people offered her assistance to help her find stuff and get oriented. The day went fine. Derek and Ms. Claire were there to pick her up. She did her homework, ate dinner (which was delicious!) and hung out with her Uncle Derek. They got into a pretty regular routine and life was good.

It wasn't long before Derek had to get back to work. Thankfully his first case was local and he didn't have to go away. Life was still good. Then he had an away case. That's when things got a little wonky. Before he left, he sat down with Tiffany to reiterate the rules. Bedtime at 9:30, homework as soon as she gets home, and be respectful and obedient of Ms. Claire. Not too hard. It seemed.

Tiffany had become friends with two girls that were from her neighborhood. Strangely enough, these 2 girls were so very different it was hard to believe they were friends. Amber was very shy, quiet, and super smart. Brittany was boisterous, very outgoing, very smart even though she tried to hide it. These two did have in common that they were very mischievous. They pulled pranks on their classmates and to date, they had not been caught. Three weeks into her stay at her new school, she had a substitute teacher. This is when Amber and Brittany decided to show what they were really made of. They pulled prank after prank on the teacher. The last one is where it got sticky. The girls were laughing so hard that the sub just knew it had to be them. When she approached them, they stuck together. Tiff was not breaking rank because she didn't want to lose her friends. Some of the stuff was funny but not all of it. When the teacher questioned them, she just didn't answer instead of lying or telling on her friends. The sub sent them to the principal's office. The principal stated that if they did not start talking they would be suspended. Well, they didn't talk, so….

When Tiffany got home, Ms. Claire did her usual questions. "How was school? Did you learn anything new today? How are your friends?" Usually Tiffany was very upbeat about the whole thing but today, she had very short answers. "It was okay. Yeah. They're ok." Ms. Claire thought that was weird. She realized that there was a phone call missed earlier and she checked the message. It was the school stating that Tiffany had been suspended for 2 days for insubordination. The message also said that a call was being place to Derek's cell phone. Right around that time, Derek called to say that they were on their way back from their last job. He asked if Tiffany had said anything about being suspended. Ms. Claire told him that in fact she had not. He said don't mention anything about it. He will deal with Tiffany in the morning. Tiffany did her homework, ate dinner, and went to bed without a fuss.

Next morning, Derek woke Tiffany up at the normal time. She got ready for school like she normally did. They left for school after she ate breakfast. When she got ready to get out of the car, Derek asked her where she was going. She said, "to school." He then asked her, "why would you do that when you have been suspended for two days?" Her face dropped. Tears welled up. "Why are you crying, Tiffany? Did you forget to tell me something? Answer me." She couldn't answer. What could she say? She was so busted. "Tiffany, look at me when I'm talking to you." She couldn't. "Close the door. We will talk when we get home." Tiffany cried the entire way home. Derek told her to save her tears. She would need them later.

When they got home, Derek asked for the letter from the school that he was going to need to sign for her to return. She got the letter and gave it to him. He told her to sit down across from him at the kitchen table. The questions came quickly and she found them hard to answer. "What did you guys do yesterday to the sub? Why didn't you just explain what happened? Why didn't you speak up and say that you had been suspended? What were you going to do today had I left you at school?" That last question was the one that pushed Derek over the edge. The plan was that they would go to Amber's house because her folks were at work during the day. " And how were you going to get the paper signed to go back to school?" She admitted that she had not thought about that. He started to get loud and told her, "That was the problem with this whole thing. You did not think. You were so concerned about your friends that you did not think about how this was going to turn out. You did not think that getting suspended would be a problem, but now that is on your school record. You did not think about what would happen when I found out that you were suspended for something so trivial. And the thing that bothers me the most is that, sure you guys thought you had a plan to deal with suspension by going over Amber's house, but what if something happened while you guys were there and every body is thinking that you guys are in school. What about that??!!!" Tiffany was crying again. She did not think about all of that. "Go to your room."

When she got to her room she had the feeling that he was not through with her. She had never been punished before. She became nervous and started crying again. When Derek came up 15 minutes later she was still crying. He tried to not be affected by her crying. He had to deal with her. He sat her down and told her, " What you have done over the last couple of days has been absolutely unacceptable." She tried to look away. He said, "look at me. The deceit and the poor judgement – not acceptable. This time is going to be the last time you ever pull anything like this again. You understand me?" "yes." He then stood up and began to unbuckle his belt. Tiffany looked terrified. "You're going to whip me?" "Yes, I am." She started crying loudly. It hurt him to do this, but he had to teach her a lesson. He did not want anything like this to happen again. He told her to turn over on the bed on her stomach. She moved slowly into position. He told her that she was to stay in that position. If she turned over or got off the bed, he would start over. He brought the belt down on her bottom (she still had on her pants from her uniform) and she jumped but did not turn over.

"if you ever (whack) try to deceive (whack) me again (whack) you will end up (whack) here again (whack). Do you (whack) understand (whack) me? (whack)

She tried to answer but all she could do was nod her head. She was crying too hard.

"If I find out (whack) that you (whack) have gave a teacher a hard time (whack, whack), you will end up here (whack, whack). Understand? (whack)

And if you ever think you are going to skip school (whack, whack, whack) you will end up here. Do you understand? (whack, whack, whack)

He let her lay there for a little bit to get the crying out. He then sat on the side of the bed and had her sit up. He put his arm around her to hug her and said to her, "I don't want to ever have to do that again. I expect for you to follow the rules whether spoken or unspoken. No one has to tell you that it is wrong to prank your teacher. No one has to tell you that it's wrong to not be where you're supposed to be. I know that you know better. So when you don't manage to do what's right, I will be here to push you in the right way. I love you, Tiff and I'm going to have to do the hard things sometimes. Do you understand?" She nodded and sniffed. "Go wash your face and come downstairs for the rest of your punishment." "The rest of my punishment," she thought. "Oh my gosh." She didn't realize that Derek could be so strict. She did as she was told. The remainder of her punishment was no cellphone, no computer, and no TV for a week. She could not believe it.

Good grief, she thought. Is this what happens to other people when they get punished. She was going to do what ever it takes to not end up here EVER again. She did not hate Uncle Derek but now she looked at him differently. He suddenly didn't seem like a cousin. He was more like a father that other people described. It made her feel strangely secure.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It had been 3 months since Morgan and Tiffany became a family. She had been a model student (or at least there were no more suspensions) and they had gotten into a comfortable routine. Tiffany was right about Ms. Claire. She did give great hugs especially if had been a couple of days since she last saw her. Often times, she was the best part of her day. It was like having a grandmother. She never experienced that before. Her favorite thing to do with Ms. Claire was sit and read together after she had completed her homework. They would sit in the chair and a half with their feet up on the ottoman and Tiffany would read one chapter out of what ever her book was at the time and Ms. Claire would read a chapter out what ever she was reading. She hated to see her leave in the evenings because she enjoyed her so.

And the very best part was her Uncle Derek. He was everything to her. Somehow, she began to feel that she was pretty special to him too. Ever since the spanking, he made sure that she knew that he did not consider her a bad kid but that he knew that kids would sometimes get into trouble and it was part of growing up. He also made sure she knew that as natural as it was for kids to get into trouble, it was natural for parents to have to discipline the child whether it would be restrictions or a spanking if indicated. When they were talking about this, she said to him smiling, "but you're not my _parent_. So does that mean you shouldn't have _disciplined_ me?" He said smiling, "uncledaddyguardians are included." He gave her a playful swat and sent her on her way. That is the comfortable kind of relationship that had developed with them.

For Derek, Tiffany had become his entire world. He was surprised at how quickly she consumed his whole heart. He never thought of himself as the parenting type but it was getting easier to accept the challenges. He centered his whole life on Tiffany. He didn't go to the bar after work, he had not been out on a date, and he even declined calls from women that called him. He didn't really think about it, he just did it or didn't do it in some regards.

The team was starting to notice Derek's lack of hanging out and the overall change in him. They realized that he had calmed too much. Even his playful banter with Garcia had decreased. It was getting uncomfortable for them because he was a different Morgan, not better or worse. They wanted their old Morgan back. They all figured that he needed to start dating again. That had to be it. Prentiss approached him and asked, "How are you holding up, Morgan?" "How am I holding up?"

"Yeah. Doing the parenting thing?"

"I think I'm doing okay."

"Are you sure?"

Morgan thought this conversation interesting because he and Prentiss did not do the personal business thing. Over time, they did develop a friendship but it really was just work stuff and talking about superficial stuff. This line of questioning was worrisome. What was she getting at? So he asked her. "Alright, Prentiss. What's going on?"

"Nothing. I was just checking to see how you are doing with your new role."

"New role, huh?"

"Well yeah. It just, um, seems like you've not quite been yourself."

"Not myself?"

"Well yeah. I mean you don't talk to Garcia like you used to, you don't make your jokes like you used to, and you've even stopped picking on Reid. Not yourself."

Morgan thought about this for a moment and with all sincerity said, "Thanks for your concern. I'm going to think about that." Prentiss, concerned that she might have offended him, stammered, "I, I didn't mean…" Morgan cut her off and said, "No it's okay. I really do appreciate it." He touched her shoulder to let her know that he really did appreciate it.

Morgan thought about whether or not he had really changed that much. He figured he had to change to some extent to successfully raise his girl. But in truth, it had been a minute since he really had any grown woman companionship. Dang it Prentiss, he thought. He was doing just fine, now he was thinking about things that he had been missing. He didn't feel resentment, but he did feel a little longing. This time he went to Emily. "Hey Prentiss, I was thinking about what you said and I…" She cut him off and blurted, "I was wondering if I could watch Tiffany for you one day or a weekend. I really would like to get to know her and maybe you could hang out with your friends or go out or something." Prentiss had a hard time admitting that maybe she wanted to explore that maternal/caring side of herself and here was a perfect opportunity. "Thanks, Prentiss, I really appreciate it. I really do. I'm going to talk to Tiffany tonight and get back to you." At that moment he got a text from Tiffany indicating she was home. He said to Prentiss, "Hold on a moment." He called Tiffany. "Hey, baby girl. Glad you made it home. How was school? That's good. We'll talk some more about it when I get home. Gotta question for you, Tiff. How would you like to spend a weekend with Emily?" At that moment he held the phone away from his ear because she was giddy and giggling on the other end of the phone. "So that's a yes, Tiff? Okay, I will let Emily know. She asked if you could stay with her sometime. Okay, okay, okay. I will talk to you when I get home. Get your homework done. Be good for Ms. Claire. Okay, sweetie, love you. Bye bye." Morgan and Prentiss just stood there smiling at each other. They then almost simultaneously said, "ok then…" and turned and walked away.

Emily was so excited. She really liked Tiffany. The times that she has been around her when they visited Morgan's house, she seemed like a sweet little girl. She was excited to show her what she's done with her room and her new clothes. She also showed her the books that she read. She always gave Emily a big hug when she left and Emily reciprocated. Something about Tiffany tugged on her heart strings. Well she would get her opportunity.

Two weekends later, Tiffany was able to stay with Emily. They initially had planned for the first weekend after Derek and Emily talked but they had to go out of town on one of their BAU assignments. Fortunately, it worked out for the following weekend. Tiffany was so excited.

When they got to Emily's place, Tiffany thought it was so cool. It was a loft, open and airy. It was really pretty and modern. They ordered out that Friday night for Chinese and Emily let Tiff pick the movies. Emily was really touched because when the movies started Tiff got right up under her. All of the sofa that was there and she chose to be right by her. That was special. By the time the third movie was half way through, Tiffany had fallen asleep leaning up against Emily. She leaned her head on hers, hugged her, and just thought how special she was. She felt bad for all the stuff that she had gone through in her young life. She gently laid her down on the sofa, placed a pillow under her head, and covered her up with a blanket. She kissed her head and wished her sweet dreams.

The next morning, they got up and went to breakfast and then the zoo. Tiff loved the pandas at the National zoo. It was probably her favorite part. They bought souvenirs and had pictures taken of themselves. They had a dinner at a Thai restaurant and caught the metro home. They were beat by the time they got home. They each took showers and changed into pjs and restarted the movies. Tiff told Emily that she was having so much fun with her and wondered if they could do it again. "Absolutely," Emily replied. Again, she was touched that Tiff wanted to hang around her as much as she wanted to have her around. She liked this part of her and only Tiffany had brought it out of her. The next morning when Derek came to pick her up, Tiffany was so sad. "Uncle Derek, I don't want to go yet. Aunt Emily and I didn't even have breakfast yet." Derek and Emily both thought "Aunt Emily?" Emily loved it and Derek found it amusing. He would tease Prentiss about it later. Emily invited him to join them for breakfast. They all cleaned up together and despite her protests they got on their way. Before they left, Emily took Tiff aside and told her, "I really loved having you here this weekend. We will have to do this again sometime really soon." She hugged her and Tiffany replied, "Thanks, Aunt Emily. We will and I can't wait."

Several more months passed and the weekends with Emily quickly became a regular event. She did it at least once a month. Emily even bought a special twin sized sofa bed that was more like her favorite chair and half at home. When she was there, they kept the bed out for her and even bought her linens for it in one of her favorite colors, pink. She loved it when she was there. There were a few kids that lived in Emily's building that Tiff met in the small playground for the neighborhood. On this particular visit (it was her 4th time there), the kids decided to go to the drug store to get some treats. Tiff didn't have any money on her. She wanted to go back to get some. The kids told her not to worry because they would get it for her. She wanted to go back to tell Em that they were going to the store but they said not to because it was just a block away and they would be right back. She didn't feel good about this but she was going because she didn't want to lose the friends that she had made. Plus you could see the store from the playground and it really was not that far. And really what was one dollar between all of them so that she could get some candy too. So she went. Bad idea.

When they got to the store, not all of the kids had money. They planned to steal the candy for the most part. They did it before. They told her to just pick the one up that she wanted. A couple of kids would pay for candy while the others left the store with the stolen candy. "Oh my gosh!" She could not believe that she was doing it, but if they got away with it before what could go wrong this time. As they were walking out, the alarms went off and the guard was on them quickly. Some of them ran, but Tiffany and two other kids got caught. "Oh no," she was screaming in her head. "This is not happening."

They took her and the other two kids back into an office. They asked for their names and their parents numbers. No way was Tiffany letting them call her dad. She gave Emily's name and number. The guard called and asked, "May I speak with Ms. Prentiss?" Tiffany could not hear on the other end of the phone. She could only hear the guard's end until he finished saying, "This is Tom Smith, security guard at Drug Rite pharmacy. I have your child here Tiffany Morgan who was caught stealing candy from…" At that point she heard Emily yell, "She what? Where is this?" The guard explained again where he was calling from and where they were located. She said she would be right there. Tiffany was relieved that it worked that they called Emily. That feeling quickly faded when she saw her five minutes later and her face was not the one that she had become so familiar with. This one looked angry and there was clearly a scowl in place. She didn't even speak to Tiff, she just introduced herself to the guard as her aunt and explained that she had responsibility for her over the weekend. She negotiated for the police to not be involved. She reassured the guard that she would not come to this store again unaccompanied by an adult. The guard was satisfied as he had never seen Tiffany there before and this was her first offense. They left the store and walked the one block home in silence.

When they got home, Emily slammed the door and told Tiffany to go sit down. "Tell me what happened," she demanded. Tiffany explained what happened including how she realized that they were going to steal the candy. So Emily started asking questions.

"So did you know that the plan was to steal the candy as you chose your candy?"

"Yes," Tiffany said through tears.

"So you had the chance to not pick up the candy or put it back?"

"Yes."

"So why didn't you just put it back or not pick it up?"

"I don't know."

"Yes you do know."

"I don't," Tiffany whined.

"Yes you do and you will tell me when I come back in ten minutes. Sit here and don't move until I tell you." Tiffany started really crying now. It was so stupid to do that for a stupid candy bar and to prove something to those stupid kids. She was afraid that she ruined everything with her and her Aunt Emily.

Meanwhile, Emily didn't know what to do. She was so upset with Tiffany and she knew she had to do something, but she didn't know what. She didn't want Tiffany to think that she was going to be rejected, but she also needed her to know that she was not pleased with her actions. She knew she needed to be punished, but was that her place to do it? She also needed for Derek to know, but should she tell him or should she make her do it. She lay back on her bed and closed her eyes. She thought about it for a minute and rationalized her decision. She was starting to feel as if Tiffany was her responsibility. She felt like she should not get away with something as serious as that with her (bedtime slacking was okay, but this was too much). She needed to take care of the problem in her own way and deal with the fall out later if necessary. She had made her decision. It would make her unpopular but she had to do it.

She went back downstairs and asked Tiffany, "Do you have an explanation for your behavior?" Tiffany replied, "I guess I knew I shouldn't have done it but they got away with it before so I figured it would work again. I did want the candy. I was going to come up here and get some money and tell you what I was doing but they said not to worry about it because it was so close and I went ahead." She started crying again. "Aunt Emily, I am sooooo sorry. Please don't be mad at me forever." At this Emily softened a bit, but she reminded herself that she had to be tough. Emily said to her, "Quite honestly, I am mad. I'm disappointed. And I'm sad. You know better and I'm disappointed that you didn't do what you knew was right to do. I'm mad because I get angry when people steal. It's not yours and so you have no right to it. Period. And I'm sad because I now have to punish you." Oh no, Tiffany thought, punish is never a good word. Last time she heard that she got spanked and grounded.

Emily said, "I don't think any more discussion is needed about this." She got up and went to the kitchen and got a wooden stirring spoon. She told Tiffany to get up and come around to the back of the couch. Tiffany eyed the spoon and asked what she was going to do with that. Emily said, "I'm going to spank you because you knew that what you were doing was wrong before you even did it. You had the opportunity to back out of stealing the candy and you didn't take it. So this will serve as a reminder the next time you even think you want to do something like this again. Now bend over." Tiffany could not believe this was happening again. Why didn't she just think. All of this could be avoided it she would just think. Emily interrupted her thoughts saying, "I'm waiting." Tiffany bent over the back of the sofa hesitantly and Emily quickly started smacking her behind with the spoon. The pain built up quickly and spilled out in tears and sobbing. Tiffany tried to stand up when Emily guided her back down and kept her hand on her back. Tiffany was kicking her legs now and wailing. Emily was extremely efficient and didn't say a word. She just kept spanking for about a minute. If someone was watching, they would have thought she was a pro at it. When she was done, she stood Tiffany up and told her, "If you ever do something like this again, you will drop your pants the next time. Do you understand me?" Tiffany just nodded her head. Emily said, "Do you understand me? Yes or no?" Tiffany said a very slobbery, "Yes." Emily told her to go wash her face and come back and sit down when she was done.

When she came back, Emily had calmed down but look like she had been crying. It was not easy to spank Tiffany. Not at all. She sat Tiffany down and hugged her to herself. She said while resting her head on top of hers, "I know I hurt you today by spanking you. I felt that I had to do it to teach you a lesson. You know better than to steal, don't you? I know you do. You can't misbehave and not suffer the consequences. If I didn't do what I felt was right in this situation I would not be doing the right thing by you as your aunt. If I let you get away with stuff and not correct you then I don't love you. Today, our relationship might have changed maybe not for the better if you now believe that I'm mean or don't like you. But it could have changed for the better if you understand that I love you and I will do what ever is necessary to do the right thing for you. What do you think?" Tiffany sighed and said, "I believe that you love me, Aunt Emily." Emily replied, "I do you love you, Tiffany." Tiffany wrapped her arms around Emily and squeezed her. Emily said, "Okay. Two more things. One, you have to sit here for 2 hours. No TV, phone, or going outside. And two, you have to tell your Derek." Tiffany thought that the two hour thing was nothing but she could not tell Derek. He would kill her. Emily told her that she could tell him tomorrow when she got dropped off. Doesn't make it any easier, Tiffany thought.

Emily left her for her two hours and she promptly fell asleep. They had lunch afterwards and the rest of the visit was like the usual visits. Nails painted, movies, popcorn, and take out (it seems Emily doesn't cook). The next morning, they went for breakfast and they talked about their upcoming week. Emily had just received word that they had an out of town case, so Tiffany knew Derek would be leaving today too. She asked Emily if she had to tell him since they were going away, she told her yes. When they got to Derek's, Tiffany hugged him. Emily cleared her throat. Tiff knew what she had to do. She spilled it. All of it. Derek stood there with his mouth open. He could not believe it. He told her to go to her room after she told Emily bye. She hugged Emily saying, "Bye Aunt Emily. I'm sorry for the trouble I caused. Love you." "I love you too sweetie. There's a first and last time for everything. Let's hope that this is the first and last time we go through this." She kissed the top of her head and Tiff said, "it will be." She went upstairs as she was told.

Morgan turned to Prentiss and burst out laughing. "What is so funny," she asked. He said, "I would have paid money to see your face through all of this." Emily didn't think it was so funny. Morgan picked up on it. He said to her, "In all seriousness, thank you for loving Tiffany through good and bad." At that he hugged her. She hugged him back and sighed. Strangely, it seemed they each felt something spark, stiffened and pulled away. Couldn't be. "Okay, see you at the airfield in 2 hours," Emily said. Derek replied, "Right. See you there."

He went upstairs to take care of Tiff. He got her hair brush and sat on her bed and beckoned her over. "Uncle Derek, you're not going to spank me too, are you? Aunt Emily already did it." "The brush is not for my hair," he laughed. "Yes I'm going to spank you again. I told you that when you don't behave and you use poor judgment, I was going to make sure that you get back on the right path. Now let's go. You know what you did wrong. Let's get the reminder going so you won't do this again." He pulled her over his lap and started smacking her butt with the brush. "When are you going to start (whack) thinking before you do stuff like this? (whack) It makes no sense (whack) that you should get caught (whack) stealing because you shouldn't be stealing. (whack) When are you going to do this again? (whack, whack, whack) Answer me." (whack) Tiffany sobbed, "never!" "I don't expect you to ever do anything like this again." (whack, whack, whack) Do you hear me? (whack) "Yes!" As he was standing her up, he said "You are smarter than this and you are better than this."

It was so hard to make her cry. But he realized that his goal was not to hurt her, it was a byproduct of what he had to do to discipline her. Duty did not make it easier. He looked at her, took her hands, and said, "You are a good girl. You make mistakes sometimes, but we all do." He directed her face towards his. "I really need for you to think about the consequences of your actions and how they will affect you not just at the moment, but long term. Who cares about having certain friends if they are encouraging you to do wrong things? Think about this: did any of your friends have to deal with Emily's disappointment in you? No. Did any of them have to take your spankings with you? No. Did any of them have to deal with me? No. Did any of them lose their privileges with you? No. So you need to think about these types of things before you do them. And let me just tell you this: if you get even an inkling that something isn't right to do, just don't do it. That little voice is trying to protect you." He hugged his baby girl. He told her that he was going to miss her. He would call as soon as they got to the hotel. He told her that the cell phone was only to be used to contact him or Ms Claire and no text messages except to contact him.

They went downstairs and Ms. Claire was there waiting for her girl. It hurt her so to hear her being punished, but she knew that Tiffany was wrong. It didn't stop her from getting ready to give her a great big hug. Derek hugged Tiffany close and said, "Bye, baby girl. You know I love you, right?"

"Yes, I do and I love you too."

"Okay. I will see you in a few days. Be good."

"I will."

At that, Derek was off. Tiffany turned and hugged Ms Claire. Ms. Claire hugged her back and they went to their chair. Ms. Claire wanted to talk to her baby. This was not going to be their usual talk.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Ms. Claire and Tiffany sat in their usual chair. Tiffany still had that residual sighing after a big cry. They sat there quietly for a little while and Ms. Claire hugged Tiffany and laid her little head on her chest. Tiffany started crying anew with that motion. Ms. Claire just held her little closer while she got it out. After about a half hour like this, Ms. Claire finally asked Tiffany, "What do you think is bothering you the most about what happened over this weekend?" Tiffany just shook her head and said, "I don't know?"

"Well let me ask you. How do you feel right now?"

"I don't know," she whined.

"Do you think that you're sad?"

"I guess I am."

"Are you disappointed?"

"I don't know."

"Are you angry?"

"Ms. Claire, I don't know how I feel."

Ms. Claire then lifted Tiffany's chin up so that she could look her in the face. She then said, "Tiffany, I think you feel ashamed." Tiffany wasn't sure if she wanted to admit that, but that was probably the right feeling. She just put her head back down. Ms. Claire then asked, "You want to know how I know that's what you're feeling?"

"Yes."

"Well, I did the same thing when I was around your age, but I think I was about nine."

"You did?" Now Tiffany was looking up at Ms. Claire.

Ms. Claire said, "I did. I'm not proud of it, but I got through it and you will too. Here's what happened." At that point, Ms. Claire told her what happened.

She told her that she grew up in a small town in Georgia. Everybody in the town knew each other. The general store was not very far from her house. Her older sisters had gone to the store and with some of their allowance had bought some candy, sodas, and a record. ("What's a record?" "It was the way, back then, that people were able to buy music.") Claire was upset because they didn't bring her anything. Her sisters reminded her that Momma and Papa said she couldn't have any sweets that week because she didn't do all of her chores on time earlier that week. Her parents left then to go to a meeting. Well, Claire wasn't going to be without her treats. She didn't know what got into her, but she was determined. So while her sisters were listening to their new record ("they were always oohing and aahing over some new guys with a record"), she went out to the store. She just wanted a piece of chocolate. When she got to the store, she didn't see anybody around at the register, so she picked up the candy bar that she wanted and headed back out the door. As she did, she ran into the store owner at the door. He said hello to her and asked her for the nickel for the candy bar. ("A candy bar only cost a nickel?") When she said she didn't have it, the owner questioned her on why she was leaving his store then with a candy bar in her hand that she did not intend to pay for. He went to call her parents and she said that they were not at home because they had to go to a church meeting. He said well then he would wait for them to come home. He closed the store and walked her home. She cried and pleaded with him to not tell her parents but he told her that it was better for her to learn her lesson now than to get away with it now and try it again later. When she got home, her sisters saw her walking up with the store owner and when they heard what happened they started teasing her about how much trouble she was going to get in when their parents got home. But now Claire was mad because they were happy that she was going to get into trouble. She reminded them that they were supposed to be watching her and they might actually get into trouble. She didn't have to wait long to find out what Momma and Papa thought about her adventure to the store. The store owner told them why he was there and what Claire did. Her parents gave her a look she never saw before and they told her to go inside along with her sisters. Claire looked out the front window nervously as her parents continued to talk to the man. When the store owner turned to leave, she closed the curtains really quick and sat back on the sofa. When her parents came in, they told her to go pick some switches. ("What's a switch?" "It's a thin branch on a tree that parents used to spank their kids with." "Oh my God…") Claire got the worst spanking of her life. It seemed like it would never end. Her dad spanked her with only her underwear on and she had marks all over her backside. When he was done, he told her and her sisters to come to the living room. Her parents explained to them how disappointed they were, but the more pressing issue was the embarrassment brought on the family. They worked very hard for the family to have what they did have (even if it wasn't a lot). The fact that Claire tried to steal a 5 cent piece of candy was ridiculous. They reminded her that chocolate was not a right, it was earned. They reminded her that her allowance which was earned was to be used for that stuff. He asked her recall aloud why she didn't have any money that week. When she had to admit that it was because she didn't take care of her chores like she was supposed to, she was truly ashamed. She felt so bad for having shamed her family and for not making a better choice. She was grounded for 2 weeks and had to go to the store daily to sweep the floor and put back all the stuff that had been misplaced. This was in addition to her normal chores. What made it worse? She did not get any chocolate for 2 weeks! All of this for a 5 cent candy bar. But you know what was good? Her sisters had their record taken away for a week because they were distracted by it and didn't watch Claire like they were supposed to.

By the time Ms. Claire finished telling the story, Tiffany felt so much better. She was thinking how harsh her punishment seemed. Ms. Claire informed her that whippings with switches and other things were common when she was growing up and she turned out okay. There wasn't a whole lot of talking about things like kids have it today. She loved Ms. Claire and actually appreciated her telling her story. She realized how easy Uncle Derrick had been on her compared to Ms. Claire's parents. She also thought that even great people make mistakes and they were was once kids.

When Derrick called that evening after they arrived at their destination, Tiffany told him about Ms. Claire's story. She apologized again and Derrick told her that it was already forgiven. He told her that he knows that it was a peer pressure thing and that he was certain that she learned her lesson. She told him that she did and it would never happen again. She asked if she could talk to Emily, he told her it was okay to call her. When he talked to Ms. Claire, he thanked her for kindness to Tiffany and told her that he wasn't sure how long this case was going to take.

When Tiffany talked to Emily, she told her again how sorry she was for what happened and how she wished it never happened. She told Emily how she would try to not mess up her trust in her. Emily told her that she was thankful for the apology but that it was not necessary. She reassured Tiffany that she wasn't going anywhere. Kids doing silly kid stuff would not run her off. Emily told her that she was stuck with her whether she liked it or not. Tiffany told her she liked it.

Tiffany got ready for bed and ready for another week at school. She determined that this was going to be an awesome week and nothing would happen to get her into trouble.

Meanwhile, after the team had settled into their hotel, Derrick went to Emily's room. He wanted to talk to her about what happened this weekend. They ordered room service because they were starved and as much as they wanted a beer they refrained because they were on duty. Derrick asked how she was doing. She told him that she was doing ok. She said she never thought that she would ever have to spank anyone. She guessed it was because she never really saw herself with kids although she wanted them. It was the hardest thing she ever did. To hear Tiffany cry because she was hurting her, just got to her. Even though she and Derrick never discussed it, she just knew that he spanked Tiffany. She just had a feeling about it because of how no nonsense he was at times. Derrick told her that he really had a hard time, too, at first. Especially because he knew that she had never been spanked before. What he thought about, unfortunately, was that in their line of work and having been a police officer before he knew that for some of their suspects lack of a firm hand and discipline contributed to their dysfunction. That allowed to do what he felt was necessary. He told Emily that he appreciated her for doing what SHE felt was necessary. She could have handled it however she liked as long she did, he reassured her. He told her that he knew she was trying to make sure she had consistency. But he reminded her that consistency didn't have to mean that things were done exactly as he did it but that she knew there were rules and boundaries. He told Emily that he knew she had that at her place. He hugged her and weirdly they felt that same little spark. Or did they?

Their food arrived. They ate while watching a Sunday night football game. Eventually, they were sitting on the bed watching the game. That led to Emily falling asleep while leaning up against Derrick. He looked at her and given all they had they discussed he felt a new found appreciation for Emily. She seemed so vulnerable and not so much like the tough Emily that he worked with. He thought what surprised him the most was how much he saw her being in Tiffany's life. That would mean she would have to be in his to some extent. He realized he would have to drop his shield that he kept up around his work family – at least for Emily.


End file.
